Dream Beauty Collection

Over the past year and a half, dreams of my ideal beauty collection kept me from purchasing new products. Although actively working through products and keeping an inventory system are essentials for my continued success, I figured that forcing myself to log my dream collection in my bullet journal would be a helpful tool to keep me motivated to downsize.

And it is!

When cataloging data, I find it most helpful to see like-items grouped together because I am better able to process my thoughts and ensure that I won’t forget something. Thus, similarly to how I categorized my beauty inventory, I broke my dream collection down into subsections.

Haircare

Base Products

Face

Lips

Eyes

Palettes

Skincare

For every category, I listed out my optimal mini-collection. If it is not already apparent based on the above, my paired down collection is still more than what any single person “needs,” but it is far less than what I currently own. However, I do not feel guilty about the number of items in my ideal collection because I truly love makeup, and love having a variety to play with color and texture. So let’s dig into the dream!

Goal Haircare Collection: 9 Items

(1) Bar Shampoo

(1) “Regular” Shampoo

(1) Conditioner

(1) Leave-In Conditioner/Treatment

(1) Hair Oil

(1) Sea Salt/Hair Texturizing Spray

(1) Hairspray

(1) Heat Protector

(1) Styling Cream

Current Haircare Collection: 26 items

WHY: Admittedly, my hairstyling skills are lacking, so I cannot justify a large haircare collection because the items will sit in my bathroom unused. My collection swelled to over 35 products at the start of the year because I was gifted quite a few LUSH Shampoos for Christmas, as well as an entire hairstyling line from a co-worker. I received almost every other hair product in a subscription box in 2015 and 2016. Needless to say, I have too much and I am trying to pare down my collection by working my way through products.

Goal Base Collection: 12

(1) Tinted Moisturizer

(1) Medium Coverage Foundation

(1) Full Coverage Foundation

(3) Primers

(3) Concealers & Color Correctors

(1) Setting Spray

(1) Setting Powder

(1) Under-Eye Powder

Current Base Collection: 15

WHY: My current base collection isn’t actually too far off base from my desired one. Some of the individual items in the collection are different. Although three concealers might seem excessive, the justification for this is that each concealer would serve a different purpose – one for color correction, one for under eye coverage, and one full coverage option for covering up blemishes. Essentially, this curation allows me the freedom to work any type of skin look – from barely-there coverage to full glam.

Goal Face Collection: 13

(1) Bronzer

(1) Contour

(4) Highlighters

(6) Blushes

(1) Finishing Powder

Current Face Collection: 30*

*My current collection total includes individual pans within my face palettes.

WHY: Face palettes always seem like a great idea…

Hourglass – Ambient Lighting Face Palette

Also, the bulk of my current collection is highlighters (9) and blushes (12). That being said, unless I really up my game, I doubt I’ll finish more than one highlighter, blush, or bronzer this year.

Goal Lip Collection: 21

(5) Lip Pencils

(2) Liquid Lipsticks

(3) Lip Glosses

(2) Chapstick

(9) Lipsticks

Current Lip Collection: 54

WHY: Lip products have been a slow accumulation over the years. I have various products, brands, shades, and finishes. However, after all of my testing, I now know that I like satin or semi-matte finishes the best, creamy lip pencils, and love a good gloss. My curated collection still feels large, but compared to what I currently own, the ideal product count is quite low. The above list takes into account my desire to have multiple shade ranges and finishes within my collection.

Goal Eye Collection: 15

(1) Primer

(4) Brow Products (gel, powder, pencil, brow highlight)

(3) Mascara

(2) Glitters

(0) Single Shadows

(3) Eyeliner Pencils (Black, Nude, Brown or Purple)

(1) Black Liquid Liner

(1) Black Gel Liner

(0) Colored Liners

Current Eye Collection: 33

WHY: Hautelook sales and Sephora Play are to blame for my 33 piece eye collection. Despite the high volume of items to get through this year, I am confident that I can finish at least 1-2 unwanted eyeliners this year.

A portion of my palette collection

Goal Eye Palette Collection: 5

(4) Eye Palettes

(1) Z-Palette

Current Eye Palette Collection: 13

WHY: Eyeshadow palettes were my vice. At one point, I had ~30 palettes. Over the past couple of years, I’ve done a good job in selling what was barely used and passing on what was still good. My goal this year is to completely finish my Master By Mario Palette.

Goal Skincare Collection: 18

(2) Face Wash

(1) Toner

(1) Set of Makeup Wipes

(1) Makeup Remover

(2) Sunscreen (Face, Body)

(2) Treatments

(1) Eye Cream

(1) Moisturizer

(1) Facial Oil

(3) Masks

(2) Acne Topicals

Current Skincare Collection: 27

WHY: My current collection isn’t too far off (in number) from my goal collection. However, I have too many products within certain categories due to gifts I received this Christmas and at work. Realistically, skincare is typically the category that I am able to get through the quickest when panning products.

Ideal Collection Count: 95

Again, I recognize that my ideal collection is still far larger than most individual’s, however, if I were to reach this goal, my collection would be cut in half. Ultimately, I want a collection that no longer feels overwhelming but still provides me with some variety. Over time, I expect my *dream* collection to decrease in size too.

What does your ideal beauty collection or closet look like? Have you made a list like this before?